Identity Thief

Anyone can use any name and email address in a post...

you can specify your name/email address to be whatever you want in your news client, whether its real or not. do a google search for "email spoofing"..

from

Consider "spoofing" your return addressBecause your e-mail address is included in the header of UseNet messages,posting a single message may dramatic increase the amount of spam(unsolicited commercial e-mail messages) you receive. To avoid this, manyusers configure their news readers to report their e-mail address assomething along the lines of snipped-for-privacy@domain.NOSPAM.com. This is called "spoofing" and it takes advantage of the fact that people are generally smarter than computers. Many bulk-emailers use programs to harvest e-mail addresses, however, few of these programs actually validate the harvested address. Thus, the spammers sends their messages to your spoofed address, which forces the message to "bounce" (be returned as undeliverable). In turn, the spammers remove that address from their files and you've effectively avoided getting their trash.

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Thanks for the response. However, I think this is beyond spoofing spam. I can appreciate the "NOSPAM" clause, but to use someone else's real name in a group discussion affects my reputation. Why not simply make up a fake name rather than steal someone else's? I think this may explain why that address got so filled with spam that I had to change that address.

This sucks...

Matthew

What does this mean??!!

Matthew

Um, this happens because of many reasons....

1. Somebody picked your name out of a hat and decided it would be fun to be "you". This person (a troll of sorts) probably posted a message which goes against your general philosphy.

1. Somebody wants to get you back for something you posted which annoyed/irritated them at some point in time.

2. Somebody is 45 years old and still lives at home with mom while working the fry counter at McDonalds 20 hours a week thinkng that he's "gotta get a less stressful job someday."

Word to the wise - don't put your email in the usenet headings - even with the nospam option, unless you don't mind using a throwaway account such as hotmail.

Notice my email in the headers abuse@127.0.0.1 that is an email the will auto-generate to the host that an abusive (spam) email had been sent.

HTH

This is somebody trying to get spam sent to the person who's email address is listed in teh post. It is thought that if an email is posted many times, more spam harvesters will pick up on them.

HTH

K

PS: If I put a couple of your 12" Alchemy speakers in the trunk of my

98GXE, can I then put on some D12 really loud, I'll be "chillin'"? :)

I think there is a 4th possible reason.. That someone just picked it out of a hat without any mal-intent. 'Maxima1' is a pretty easy name to come up with. For example, when I try to create a new yahoo address, it seems my first umpteen choices are always taken!!

Then again I don't know what the 'culprit' did.. was it an otherwise innocent post or was he trying to pee someone else off?

Filesiteguy.. can you explain to me how that works? I'm no expert but as far as I can tell, when a harvester grabs that address then tries to send spam, won't he just send himself one copy of the spam?

I understand what you're saying, but the thief took my REAL NAME and business email address. Nothing to do with "maxima1".

Just puzzling to an old fart like me...

Matthew

Only if you leave the trunk open a crack and loosen the license plate mounts. That way you can share your bumpin'/buzzin' with the whole neighborhood.

Or get some Alumapro BP-12 subs: the "neigborhood annoyance factor" is off the charts

Matthew